Personal hygiene has always been the primary prophylactic measure in maintaining good health. Germs are spread more quickly in our world nowadays. People travel all over and acquire bacteria and viruses and transport them to places where they did not previously exist. This is especially so in hospitals or other institutions such as rehabilitation centers, homes for the elderly, etc. where patients, healthcare professionals and visitors intermingle in an atmosphere where bacteria and viruses propagate. Oftentimes, people in hospitals and institutions contract additional infections because of the hospital or institution's inability to maintain a sterile and sanitary environment. It is getting harder and increasingly more challenging to provide a germ-free environment, especially for those who have weakened immune systems. Sanitizing frequently-used areas in hospital and institutions is in itself a dirty and time-consuming job, and even with the best cleaning staff available, if it still difficult to maintain a sterile environment. There's a long-felt need to provide a hand-free cleaning device that is economical, portable, easy-to-use, fast-acting and effective in disinfecting and minimizing the spreading and the proliferation of bacteria and viruses. By providing a hands-free, easy-to-use and efficient device, the premises would be cleaner and more sanitary, thus helping to control the proliferation of bacteria and viruses.
By way of example, a typical residential or commercial toilet maintains a water level in the toilet bowl to accept new deposits of sewage and to seal off sewer gasses from entering interior living spaces. Each waste disposal cycle removes the initial volume of water plus the added waste products and provides an amount of clean water to remove waste that may have become adhered to the sides of the toilet bowl, leaving an amount of water in the toilet bowl for the next cycle. Although each cycle rinses the sides of the toilet bowl, periodic cleaning is often necessary to maintain a clean appearance and sanitary conditions. In addition to soiling from the incomplete removal of waste, microorganisms, bacteria, mineral deposits commonly found in water, paper products, and any other unsanitary items, the presence of a default amount of water at the end of each disposal cycle can lead to deposits that are difficult to remove during a disposal cycle.
Typically, the necessary periodic cleaning requires an individual to manually scrub the interior surfaces of the toilet bowl in order to remove waste, sediment, any unsanitary items, and water borne deposits that may become adhered to the sides of the bowl over time. This usually involves close contact with the water in the toilet and vigorous scrubbing to remove the waste, stains and other deposits. Such requirements usually make the task of cleaning a toilet unappealing.
The manual scrubbing associated with typical toilet bowl cleaning methods has some degree of effectiveness, and is arguably efficient, but, by itself, scrubbing is most likely ineffective in disinfecting toilet bowl surfaces. Microorganisms present in the toilet bowl water are likely redistributed by the scrubbing process. Commonly, some amount of toilet bowl water is atomized during the scrubbing process which may spread the microorganisms to surrounding surfaces. Thus, simply scrubbing the toilet bowl may result in spreading the microorganisms to unintended surfaces.
In order to achieve an acceptable level of sanitization, potentially dangerous cleaning chemicals are typically used alone or in conjunction with the manual scrubbing step. Generally, cleaning chemicals are introduced into the toilet bowl water and applied to the inside surfaces of the bowl and allowed to sit, react and clean surfaces and the soiled areas of the bowl. The surfaces of the toilet bowl that are exposed to the chemicals are then scrubbed with the chemically-treated water and a brush or similar means adapted for this purpose. Although this may be a conventional method to clean visible stains, it is largely ineffective to sanitize. Recently, however, there has been more awareness both environmentally and physically concerning the use of harmful chemicals during the cleaning process and upon subsequent use of the toilet because these disinfecting chemicals ultimately make their way into aquifers and waterways causing harm to ecosystem, environment and all living beings.
One method developed to eliminate close contact with the sewage and/or soiled water and/or toilet water involves plugging the drain to the toilet bowl and providing additional water to raise the water level to a height greater than normally attained in any step of the typical use or disposal cycle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,918 (the “'918 patent” or “'918 system”) relates to a plug sealing the bottom drain or siphon of the toilet bowl. Next, the toilet is flushed and the water level is allowed to rise to a level higher than normally achieved during normal operation of the toilet, but not so great as to overflow the rim of the bowl. Any number of well-known cleaning agents can be added to the water thus contained and allowed to soften and remove stains and deposits from the surface of the toilet bowl and to disinfect the surfaces of the bowl. At the end of a desired soaking period, the surfaces of the bowl may be scrubbed by an individual with a commercially available brush or similar item to remove any lingering deposits.
The '918 system, however, suffers from the shortcomings that there still remains a need to physically scour the toilet bowl surfaces in order to ensure a thorough cleaning and it remains unclear whether the bowl was effectively sanitized. The '918 system still requires human effort to come in close contact with toilet water which now contains potentially harmful cleaning chemicals. A significant and desirable improvement would be to eliminate the need for manual scrubbing of the toilet bowl surfaces while still ensuring the cleanliness of the toilet bowl surfaces.
The present invention addresses the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a hands-free cleaning and disinfecting device that can be automated for sanitizing any enclosure having at least one draining, including but not limited to a toilet bowl, a bidet, a sink, a bathtub, a shower stall, and/or a reservoir.